Eyes
by rowanrawr
Summary: He had never paid that much attention to her. A/L story of randomness.


I recently made a Tumblr account, and am now obsessed with searching the back-log of Darren Shan Saga related posts. One I saw that really stood out was something about the colour of Arra's eyes changing from one book to the next ('Ocean of Blood' to 'Brothers to the Death').

This really got me, as it was something I couldn't remember noticing when I read through the books. So I grabbed my copies of them and started to search. And lo and behold, it's true. But obviously a continuity error, not some mystery that was left out.

Still, it has given me an idea for a little story, so welcome to Three Stories In One! You'll see what I mean...

(also thanks to blood red youth's story 'Nirvana' for inspiring the background to this)

((this goes off on one hell of a wild tangent, so be prepared))

* * *

Larten couldn't remember the last time he had seen her cry – couldn't remember _ever_ seeing her cry – so was thrown off when he entered Gavner's room and saw her huddled against the wall, clutching what he guessed to be Gavner's coat, in a flood of tears.

Gavner's death had stunned everyone, but he had never imagined that Arra would be so obviously hurt by it. She hadn't noticed him yet, and he managed to quietly walk right up to her before she looked up suddenly. There was a brief moment of surprise between the two of them – Arra, not realising anyone was nearby, Larten, silenced by the vulnerability of the moment – before she jumped up quickly and made to leave the room.

"Arra, wait," Larten caught her arm, fully expecting her to break his grasp and carry on her way, and pulled her back towards him. He was at a loss of what to do then, and settled for a hand on her shoulder. "You do not have to leave."

She wiped the back of her hand across her eyes and shook her head slightly. "I don't want to," Arra confessed quietly.

* * *

Larten focused on his happiest memories of Gavner and put thoughts of his missing – and possibly dead – assistant aside for the time being. Gavner's death was sudden and shocking, and he needed time to try to process it all before moving on to the search for his assistant. He let his head rest back against the wall and sighed. "I did not realise the two of you were so close."

He watched Arra rest her head on her knees and smile slightly. "We were both a bit lost after you left," she laughed sadly, "as pathetic as that sounds. We were both headed for the mountain so decided to travel together, and we hit it off."

Larten felt a slight twinge of guilt at the mention of his sudden departure, but said nothing of it. "I am glad to hear that," he replied instead, watching her eyes flick up to meet his briefly before turning back to the empty space of the room.

"Did you ever meet Liz?"

"Who?" Larten asked, confused.

"Liz. The human he was with for a while," Arra answered, sitting up straight when it became clear by Larten's expression that he had no idea what she was talking about. "He didn't tell you about her?"

He shook his head, "I knew he had fallen in love with a human, but I did not know her name. He did not mention her..."

"Oh... well," Arra quickly chimed in, "I was just going to say that she made him happy."

Larten nodded but still looked troubled. Darren's joke on their trip to the mountain had cut the conversation short, though Larten knew he could have asked about it later, perhaps when the half-vampire was asleep. It had slipped his mind. He was not overly concerned with some human his friend had been seeing when he was thinking so much about returning to the clan. He sighed again and let his gaze return to Arra's. "Did you meet her?" he asked, suddenly feeling the need to know everything about this woman Gavner had loved.

Arra shifted away from the wall slightly to better face him, and nodded. "A few times. For a human, she was pretty nice. A nurse or doctor, I think. She wasn't bothered about Gavner being a vampire, either. Wasn't bothered about vampires full stop, actually."

Larten watched her with a focus he never had before. "Why did they part ways?"

"She didn't want Gavner to watch her grow old. Said it wouldn't have been fair for either of them. And no," she continued, reading Larten's mind, "she didn't want to become a vampire. Gavner offered, but I guess she liked being a human too much." Arra smiled slightly. "It wasn't a harsh ending. She left him a letter explaining everything. It was pretty sweet, actually-"

"Your right eye is darker than your left," Larten interrupted quite suddenly, unconsciously leaning forward to get a better look. Arra started, taken off guard by his strange comment, and it took him a moment to realise she was looking at him like he had just lost his mind.

Larten coughed uncomfortably and moved away, averting his eyes. "I'm... I am sorry. I have never noticed before."

There was an awkward silence that lasted minutes before Arra laughed uncomfortably. "They've always been like that, you know? All Evanna's assistants had different coloured eyes, like hers. Not so obvious, though, of course," she smiled and tapped his hand. "I guess you've never paid that much attention."

"No," Larten answered, feeling an unexplainable wave of sadness wash over him that had nothing to do with Gavner or Darren. He had never wanted to pay _that_ much attention to her, had never wanted to get _that_ close. It hurt him to think of all of the other things he had ignored about her. "I suppose I have not," he took her hand and gently traced the scars that were scattered over her skin, "and I am sorry for that. Arra, truly-"

"Don't," she cut him off firmly, removing her hand from his. "I don't want to do this now. Not with Gavner and your assistant still missing."

Larten watched her stand and move to the doorway where she turned her back and ran her hands through her hair. He followed her lead slowly, unable to shake the feeling of regret and sadness that was washing over him. "I am going to look outside for Darren," he informed her with a clipped tone, trying to hide his emotions, and brushed past.

She followed him out of the room and down the corridors, and only when they were nearing the edge of the mountain did he turn to face her. "Why are you following me?"

"You can't look for him on your own," Arra replied softly, meeting his gaze with loyal eyes that warmed his heart a little. "I've got better eye-sight anyway, you need me," she teased lightly, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," he smiled in return, and for the first time he felt genuine love for her.


End file.
